Life is Strange: Past Tense
by Nobel Six
Summary: The tale is far from complete, Max now finds herself back eight years in the past, and she thinks she has all the time in the world after escaping Keith's trap, but that's far from the truth as her future is not going to let her escape reality that easy. With a new storm on the horizon, Max must figure out why, and how to save everyone from her futures past.
1. Chapter 1

**I wanted to get the sequel out as quickly as possible since it was planned even before the first story was completed , I hope you all enjoy it, and I hope it's as enjoyed as the first story. I want to give special thanks to my lovely girlfriend AliE96 for designing this story's wonderful color. I recommend you check her out, she's an amazing author and her stories are really great and a ton of fun to read.**

There was a blinding flash of light and... the camera flash did not blind her for long, as she noticed that she was sitting in a chair on a stage, surrounded by her fellow clansman.

 _'What the hell, what's going on?'_ Max thought to herself as she breathed heavily, the falling debris had been about to crush her, and then suddenly she ended up here, and upon looking down she realized why, _'the photo Warren gave me, my gradation day, I'm here.'_ Max thought as she quickly pocketed the photo and looked up and began taking in her surroundings, she noticed she was in the Blackwell auditorium, surrounded by her former friends and a large crowd overlooking the graduation ceremony.

'Okay Max, just breath,' Max thought to herself, 'your alive, you escaped Keith and Boris, you're here, but I'm back eight years." Max thought to herself as her other classmates stood up, and Max followed suit, and soon they flung their graduation caps into the air, and the ceremony was concluded.

 _'Think of the positives, your alive, and now you know who the killer is, you can use that to your advantage, that is if he's still alive, hopefully he got crushed by the debris.'_ Max wished to herself as she felt someone tap her on the shoulder, and that made her jump and tense up.

"You alright, Max?" a very familiar male voice called out to her, and upon turning around she saw Warren, a sixteen year old Warren.

"Oh Warren." Max said as she hugged him and gave him a big kiss, which earned a shocked look from Warren.

"That's the biggest kiss you've ever given me, this is supposed to be your special day, not mine." Warren joked, which earned a small smile from Max.

"Sorry Warren, just wanted to do that." Max said as a big smile broke out on her face.

"Might I ask why?" Warren asked with a smile of his own, which made Max pause and take in the situation, she was back eight years into the past, she and Warren has just started dating not long before her graduation, and Warren had no knowledge of Keith and Boris, and he was sixteen again, and she was once again eighteen, and she decided not to tell him, since it wouldn't be relevant for years, even though he knew the truth of her powers back then, she didn't want to tell him about what had happened.

"As you know I've been stressed, and it feels good to let out some of the stress with a kiss." Max said with a giggle, which earned a blush from Warren.

"Never seen you act so... well girly." Warren said with a caring smile.

"Sometimes it's good to let out your emotions." Max said simply.

"What are you going to do with your life Max, your now an adult, while I'll still be stuck in this place for two more years at most." Warren said with a small sigh, and that made Max think, Warren did have two more years of highschool ahead of him, but Max had a plan, for her future, as well as his.

"I'm thinking about joining the ABPD, might be fun." Max said, and that surprised Warren.

"Really, with how much you love photography, why join the force?" Warren asked his girlfriend.

"I want to do something productive, plus I just want to help people, and prevent what happened to Chloe, from happening to someone else." Max said, and she suddenly remembered she had said something very similar the first time she had been here, and her answer seemed to satisfy Warren's curiosity, for he knew the truth.

"Good luck to you then Max, just so you know, I'll help you anyway I can." Warren said as he gave Max another kiss.

"I know you will Warren, but if I want to be a detective, I've got to do it on my own for now." Max said with a smile.

"A detective eh, I could see you doing that, maybe someday even becoming a lead detective." Warren said with a big smile.

'If only you knew Warren.' Max thought to herself with a smile.

"Who knows, I might join you when I graduate, I'm the science geek after all, maybe the force could use someone like me." Warren said in a hopeful tone.

"Warren I'll be honest, everyone could you someone like you in their life, after all, most people spend decades, if not a lifetime searching for that special someone, I'm glad I didn't have to wait, I'm glad I found you." Max said with a big smile as she wrapped Warren into a bear hug and gave him another big kiss.

"That's my girl." Warren said with a smile and a small laugh, which earned the same from Max.

"Yes I'm your girl, just like you're my man." Max said with a big smile on her face.

* * *

 _Suddenly her vision melted into one color and she found herself standing before a very familiar site, the cliff side where she had to sacrifice Chloe, 'What the hell, what am I doing back here?' Max thought to herself as a she looked out to the sea and saw a sight that made hr blood run cold, it was the tornado, again, and as Max watched in horror she saw it emerge from the sea and engulf the town..._

* * *

"Max, did you hear me?" Warren asked as he had a concerned look on his face.

"How long was I out?" Max just blruted out.

"What the hell you talking about, I asked you a question only ten seconds ago?" Warren asked in a confused tone, leaving Max to ponder in silence for a few seconds about what she had just seen, the tornado was going to be coming back, but as to how and why was the mystery.

 _'Think Max think,'_ Max thought to herself, _'you might be eighteen again, but you have the memories and training of a twenty-six year old lead detective, so think and you will_ _figure this out.'_ Max thought to herself, she just hoped she had enough time to figure it out, before the storm arrived...

 **So the storm is on it's way again, but why, well that will have to be answered in due time...**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm back my loyal friends, I'm sorry for the wait, but I had to plan out a lot more than I originally expected, and I was finally able to put a chapter together, I hope it lives up to everyone's standards, also so nobody will be confused, this chapter takes place right after chapter one, in fact it takes place just minutes later. Hope ya'll enjoy.**

"Sorry Warren, I was just... lost in thought, busy day after all." Max said with a tired, yet fake smile.

"Oh, OK." Warren said with a smile of his own, as he seemed to buy the lie she had just told him, but unknown to Warren, she was nervous on the inside.

'How the hell is there another storm, I stopped it,' she thought to herself as she walked over to the table of food in the back corner of the room and took picked up a chocolate cupcake and took a small bite, 'is it me being here?' she thought as she secretly hoped that was not what would bring the storm back to Arcadia Bay.

"Hey Max." Max heard a familiar voice from behind her call out, and upon turning around, she saw her old friend, Kate, who was adjusting some of her blonde hair, and seeing the blonde haired young woman brought Max back, for Kate had left Arcadia Bay shortly after Max had joined the ABPD, and she hadn't seen her in almost four years.

"Hey Kate," Max began with a smile of her own, "it's hard to believe it's graduation day, was I the only one who thought it would never come?" Max asked with a smile, which was a diversion form her inner thoughts.

"Good things come to those who wait," Kate began in her usual calm tone, "but yes, I'm happy that we both can move forward with our lives." Kate said as she walked forward and gave Max a gentle hug, which she did not try and stop.

"You going to stay in Arcadia Bay?" Kate asked her friend.

"I was actually just talking to Warren about this," Max began as she took a breath, "I'm really considering joining the ABPD-." she began before Kate interrupted.

"Really, I never would have thought it, where is this coming from, the woman who loves photography joining the police force, as I said before, where is this coming from?" Kate asked with a big smile.

"Let's just say," Max began as she tried to carefully state her next statement since Kate did not know about her powers, "I like helping people, and the ABPD could be better if more people like me joined." Max said with a big smile.

"They will be better with you, Max," Kate said with a sincere tone and a smile on her face, "you're a good person, and a single person can make a large difference." Kate said in a serious tone, and that made Max nod her head in agreement.

"Enough about me, what are you going to do with your life?" Max asked her friend.

"I honestly don't know, I keep praying for guidance, and so far I'm not sure I know the answer, but the good Lord will answer in due time, and when he does, I'll do what he wants me to do." Kate said with a confident smile.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember a movie where a man learned that God can't just do everything for us, we sometimes have to do things for ourselves." Max said with a smile on her face.

"'Bruce Almighty,'" Kate said with a smile of her own, "that's a hard lesson for us to learn, especially hard for people our age and younger, and even for some adults, but the hardest lessons are often the most true," Kate said as she leaned down and picked up a cupcake of her own from the snack table, and raised it like you would raise a glass for a toast, "here's to the future, no matter where it takes us." Kate said as Max raised her cupcake and they touched the bases of the two pastries and took a big bite of their respective snack.

"Hey laddies, mind if I join the party?" Warren asked as he walked up to them.

"I don't know Max, what do you think?" Kate asked in a joking tone, but before Max could answer, her vision went black...

* * *

 _"Now what the hell is going on?" Max asked out loud as her vision finally returned and she could see herself standing in a long dimly lit hallway, with a multiple doors on either side of her, and as she started walking down the hallway, one on the right opened, and not knowing any better, she walked into it, and the door slammed shut behind her._

 _"That's unsettling." Max said as the door she just went though lead to a seemingly endless hallway, but a door was in front of her on the far side of the hallway, and as she walked forward, she started hearing muffled voices, she could make out pieces of words and sentences, but not enough to make them out fully, but she could make one thing out as she finally reached the door and opened it, and that was a single loud gunshot..._

* * *

"Max, can he join the party?" Kate asked in a joking tone as Max's vision once again changed back to the current moment.

"Yea, he can join." Max said with a forced smile as she tired to make sense of what she had just witnessed.

'A hallway with multiple doors, and a single gunshot, what the hell does that mean?' she thought to herself as Warren joined the group, grabbed a cupcake and started up a side conversation with Kate.

"So Max, we on for that movie tonight?" Warren asked his girlfriend, and that snapped Max out of thought, as she remembered that Warren and her had gone to a movie on her graduation day.

"Yea, that sounds great." Max said with a smile as she leaned forward and gave Warren a small kiss on the lips, but inwardly she was still nervous about what she had just witnessed, but hopefully this movie would calm her down, after all, visions and nightmares rarely become reality, or so she thought...

 **That vision was easily my favorite part to write, also I really enjoy the movie "Bruce Almighty" and was not trying to mock it, just wanted to write a funny joke. I hope ya'll enjoyed it.**


	3. Chapter 3

_'Why cant I grasp what I saw earlier,'_ Max asked herself as she sat in her schools dorm room, she was currently obsessing over the vision she had encountered earlier during her talk with Kate, _'an endless hallway with limitless doors, and when I open one, there is a single gunshot, then my vision returned to me, I don't like that, I don't like that one bit.'_ she thought to herself as she let out a sigh as she stood up from her chair, grabbed her guitar and started humming a tune as she played the wooden instrument, even though her brain was going a million miles a minute, the low music was helping her calm down, be it just a little.

Suddenly her phone buzzed so she put down her guitar and pulled her cell phone out of the pocket of her jeans, and she noticed it was Warren.

(We are going to be late for the movie, you almost here?) Warren asked through a text message, and with a sigh, Max replied.

(Yea, be down in five.) Max replied as she stood up from her bed and walked over to her closet, grabbed her jacket and headed excited her dorm room, and began walking through the hall towards the exit, and upon exciting her dorm, she was Warren there waiting for her.

"Hey Max, was wondering what was taking you so long." Warren said in a joking tone as he and Max shared a hug.

"Sorry Warren, I honestly lost track of time, it always goes fast when you least expect it." Max said in a joking tone of her own.

"That's weird coming from you, since you literally have the power to rewind time." Warren said in a whisper that only Max could hear as they walked past the other students who where hanging out in the courtyard next to the schools dorm rooms.

"I can only go back a few minutes, that's all." Max said in an innocent tone as she patted her pocket and felt that the photo that future Warren had given her was still safely secure, and she silently decided not to tell Warren the truth, even though she trusted him with her life, she knew she had to keep things similarly to the way they where the first time, or else their could be even bigger consequences.

"Did I tell you what movie we are watching tonight?" Warren asked as they excited the courtyard and headed towards Warren's car in the far side parking lot.

"I don't think so." Max answered honestly, and truth be told she couldn't remember what movie they had watched the first time.

"It's a YouTube movie that's premiering in limited theaters, but apparently the group behind the movie worked really hard, both on the movie, and to get it into the few theaters that agreed to show it, it had a budget of only two millions dollars, but the director who also wrote the movie, said that this is the most fun he's ever had working on a project." Warren said with a big smile.

"That sounds good to me, it's always good to see something new, something that somebody put their heart and soul into, something better than all the recycled shit you see all the time." Max said in a joking tone, and that made her boyfriend burst out laughing, and Max began laughing as well.

"God I love you." Warren said as she leaned over and gave Max a peck on her lips.

"I know, I love you as well." Max said as she and Warren arrived at his car, and soon they where on their way towards the movie theater.

* * *

Once they got to the large Cinemark movie theater, Max and Warren got out of the car and printed their tickets off at the little black kiosk. As they waited in line for the attendant to cut their tickets and direct them to their theater, Max eyed the ticket.

"The Phantom, huh?"

"Yeah," he answered, "It started off as a fan-made story online and it became a huge comic book hit several years later."

After the attendant cut their tickets and they picked up some popcorn on the way to the theater, they sat comfortably in the leather recliner seats, eager to watch the film begin. Since it was a YouTube flick, they didn't have to wait for all the trailers and it cut straight to the action.

It started off slow, with the Marvel character Spider-Man introducing himself and his team of heroes, Luke Cage, White Tiger, Nova, and the Iron Fist. Max and Warren munched on the popcorn, holding their hands as the film took a turn and introduced the title character: The Phantom, and his interactions with the team.

* * *

A few hours later, Max and Warren exited the theater, both of them satisfied with the movie they had just watched.

"Who knew a YouTube movie could be so good." Max said as they made their way to Warren's car and soon they where headed back to the Blackwell dorm rooms.

"Anything can be good, especially when someone puts a lot of time and effort into it." Warren said with a big smile as they where going through the mostly abandoned streets due to it being late at night.

"You said it, the creator of this movie must be really proud, since I looked up the movies rating, and it was highly rated by fans and critics, some critics going so far as to say it's among the best super hero movie they've ever seen." Max said with a big grin, for now she was truly happy, and even though she had to figure out how to stop the storm from returning, she was happy, for now...

 **I want to thank my good friend Aferus for allowing me to use his story as the movie that Max and Warren where watching, thank you my good friend.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm back my good friends, I want to thank my lovely girlfriend AliE96 for writing the flashback scene in this chapter, thanks Angel. I hopefully will be updating more and more often, on to the show my good friends.**

"Hey Max," Warren began as he stopped at a red light, "do you remember that night a few weeks ago when we hung out at your dorm on a Saturday night?' Warren asked his girlfriend.

In response Max tried to remember the night in question, even though she was back in her eighteen year old body, she didn't have all past memories, and it was hard to remember specifics from the past eight years, but suddenly her vision went black...

* * *

 _It was around nine o'clock tonight when Warren was working on his laptop. He was working on a paper for one of his classes when his phone chime. He looked down where his phone was next to him and it lite up showing it was a text from Max._

 _He smiled as he picked up his phone and read the text:_

 _'Hey, you wanna come by my dorm and hang out? I rented a few scary movies we could watch.'_

 _Warren smiled as he shook his head before replying._

 _'Shouldn't you be working on your paper for Criminal Justice?'_

 _'I finished it earlier. Now do you wanna come over or not? I was thinking about ordering pizza.'_

 _Warren's smile grew when she mentioned pizza._

 _'Well, why didn't you say so? I'll be there in 15'_

 _''Kay'_

 _Fifteen Minutes later..._

 _Max had placed the extra large pizza box on her coffee table when she heard a knock at her door. She strutted confidently towards it to reveal Warren on the other side._

 _"Right on time" Max smiled at him._

 _"Aren't I always?" Warren asked with a lopsided grin as he walked in "So, what kind of movies are we watching?"_

 _"Well, you have your pick" Max said as she sat down on her beige colored couch "The Conjuring, Annabelle or Mama?"_

 _"Well, considering Mama sucks, I'm gonna go with Annabelle" Warren answered as he took a seat next to her._

 _"Good choice" Max said as she got up and popped the DVD in before returning to her spot next to Warren._

 _About half way through the movie, Warren decided to get a little closer to Max so he inched towards her slowly until their hips were touching. He then stretched his arm out and causally draped it over her shoulders. Max glanced over at him and smiled gently as a cocky smile formed across Warren's face._

 _After a few minutes of silence and catching side glances of each other, Max looks up at Warren with a grin plastered on her face before placing a gentle kiss on his cheek._

 _"What was that for?" Warren asked, looking down at her with an amused look in his eyes._

 _"No reason" Max shrugged "I'm just happy to be with you right now"_

 _He laughs lightly "Me too, Max" he places a gentle kiss on her lips and keeps them there for a minute before moving them away and staring into her beautiful eyes._

 _They smiled warmly at each other before Max places her head on Warren's shoulder and he rested his head on top of her's. For the rest of the movie, the two of them watch it in silence while enjoying being in each other's company._

* * *

When her vision returned Max gave a big smile, "Yea I remember, we watched Annabelle, scared the shit out of me several times." Max said in a joking tone as she let out a small laugh.

"Same here, that movie made me jump several times, and it, made me a little on edge when I went back to my dorm that night." Warren said in an embarrassed tone, but Max did not laugh.

"We all get scared sometimes Warren, but fear can be overcome." Max said in a confident tone, which was masking her true feelings, since she was secretly scared of all these visions of the tornado she was seeing again, and now visions of the past eight years where starting to come to her, and she just couldn't figure out why.

"Your right, fear can make you paranoid, but I always ask myself, what's the worst that can happen?" Warren said in a sarcastic tone as the light finally switched to green and they where on their way again.

"I lived through the worst." Max said with a sigh, and that made Warren mentally face-palm.

"Oh shit Max, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-..." Warren began before Max spoke up.

"It's alright Warren, I need to live with those memories, sadness is not unhealthy, although we sometimes run from it." Max said wisely, and that made Warren laugh softly.

"You sounded very wise right there." Warren said wit a big smile, and Max decided to make a joke out of the opportunity Warren had just presented her with.

"You saying I'm not wise?" Max asked in a tone that indicated she was clearly joking, and that made Warren burst out laughing.

"I never said that, Max, you are easily the smartest woman I know, and you're the only woman I want to be with." Warren said, and that made Max blush and lean over in her seat and give him a peck on the cheek as they finally arrived back at Blackwell Academy.


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm sorry it took me so long to update this story. When "Rise of Endgame" and "Power Struggle" really sky-rocketed I put all my energy into those stories, but I have not forgotten all my amazing Life is Strange fans. Please tell me what you think of Life is Strange 2. I'll be honest when I say I have not played the game myself, but I have heard a lot of bad things about season 2, please tell me is it justified. Anyways unto the show.**

* * *

 _'Just run!' Max mentally thought to herself as she could be found running through the forest near the Arcadia Bay lighthouse. A gunshot rang out, only to hit the tree next to where she was running, sending splinters flying everywhere. Ignoring how close the bullet had come she diverted off the path and began trying to hide in the foliage of the forest. Another bullet rang out, this time the shooters aim was true as the bullet went in and out of her left arm. Max gasped in pain and grabbed her left arm. She did not feel blood at the moment, but she knew that it could be a little bit before her arm actually started bleeding._

 _'I can't be to far from the lighthouse, maybe there is someone there who can help me!' she thought as she emerged from her hiding spot. A third gunshot rang out, this time striking the tree behind her. Suddenly three more shots rang out, and one of the three found it's mark, and Max's vision started to turn black..._

* * *

Max awoke in a panic, her heart was racing a million miles per hour, and a layer of cold sweat blanketed her forehead.

'Once again I have a dream where I died.' Max thought as she looked at her night-stand clock, it read 3:57 AM. 'Why as soon as I arrive back in the past am I having dreams where I'm dying?' she thought as she stood up from her bed, grabbed her cell phone, and sent a text to Warren.

'U awake?' she texted her boyfriend. It took a few minutes, but her phone eventually buzzed, indicating an incoming message.

'I am now, what's up?' Warren texted. Max hesitated for a few seconds, trying to figure out to put it so she could explain what was going on, but without freaking out Warren.

'Had a really odd dream, and not the good kind.' she texted.

'Can't be weirder than the dream I was having, LOL.' Warren joked, and that made Max smile, be it very briefly.

'Care to meet for breakfast tomorrow? I can explain it better in person.' Max sent the message to her boyfriend.

'Sure, see you at the cafeteria at 8:00 AM sharp at the Blue Whales Dinner, love you.' Warren texted. Max smiled and sent him one last message before going back to bed, and she quickly fell asleep again.

* * *

"There she is." Warren said with a smile as Max entered the dinner.

"You said at 8:00 AM sharp, well here I am." Max joked as Warren stood up from his seat and gave his girlfriend a soft hug.

"Anyway, you said you had something you wanted to explain in person?" Warren asked as Max took a seat opposite of her boyfriend and they both ordered their breakfast.

"Yea, it's... weird." Max said lowly even though the dinner was full and it would be hard to overhear them.

"Who better to tell something weird to than a weird guy like me." Warren joked with a big smile on his face, which earned a chuckle from Max.

"I'll skip the bullshit and get to the point." Max said as she took a deep breath before explaining. "I've had two dreams now where I die in the end–"

"That's really messed up." Warren interrupted in a concerned tone.

"You can say that again." Max said with a small smile. "This is a striking similarity in both dreams though, and that's the way I die." Max said, and it was clear that she had her boyfriends undivided attention. "In both dreams I die from a single gunshot wound to the head." she said.

"I just got chills." Warren said as their waiter arrived with their food.

"Tell me about it, I woke up in a cold sweat." Max said as she cut a slice of bacon and took a bite.

"What do you think caused this nightmare?" Warren asked as he took a bite out of a slice of toast.

"I have no idea." Max said as she honestly couldn't figure out what was causing this. "I'll be honest Warren, your guess is as good as mine."

"I as well will be honest, I have no idea what the hell is going on Max." Warren said in an apologetic tone.

"It's alright Warren, I can't expect you to know everything." Max said as she took the last bite of her breakfast, Warren as well.

"Wish there was something I could do to make sense of your dreams." Warren apologized.

"I think this is something I'll have to answer on my own." Max said as Warren paid the tab and they both left the dinner, and headed back towards Blackwell.

 **I'm sorry if it's not my best, I've had a bad case of writers block, and I felt that I just had to write my way out of the writers block, and I felt that Past Tense would be my best way to break the writers block. I really want to hear what you all think should happen next, your ideas might give me the strength to fully break the writers block.**


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